Staff Profile

Career Summary

Biography

Linda Wallace is a registered Dental Hygienist with over 30 years’ experience in the dental profession including six years in the Royal Australian Airforce. Linda has graduate certificates in Public Health and the Practice of Tertiary Teaching and is currently a PhD candidate. She has worked in both private and public practice in the Hunter region and received a Hunter New England Health Quality Award in 2006 for her Smoking Cessation project. The public dental sector offered her the opportunity to develop her interest in special needs dentistry and oral health promotion in her role of Oral Health Promotion Educator for Hunter New England region from 1995. Linda worked with Dr Peter King to develop and implement the successful ‘Smiles Alive’ program with an aim to improve the oral health of nursing home patients. In 2007 she joined the University of Newcastle as an Associate Lecturer in the Bachelor of Oral Health program and was promoted to Lecturer in 2011. In 2012 Linda shared a Work Integrated Learning (WIL) Award with A/Prof Jane Taylor for the ongoing overseas placement program that they developed and coordinate for Bachelor of Oral Health students to Soe, West Timor. Linda is a member of the Australian Dental Council as the representative for the Dental Hygienists Association of Australia.

Qualifications

Graduate Certificate in Public Health, Queensland University of Technology, 07/07/2007

Research

Research keywords

Aged Care

Career Choice

Dental Hygienist

Job Satisfaction

Research expertise

Linda Wallace has been fortunate to be part of the evolution of dental hygiene as a profession in Australia, particularly NSW. Her insight into the profession has helped guide her research focus to the career choice, employment opportunities and job satisfaction of dental hygienists.

Linda was also employed as the Oral Health Promotion Educator for Hunter New England Health from 1996-2007 where she focused on smoking cessation and aged care projects. Both of these are still areas of interest today.

Languages

English

Fields of Research

Code

Description

Percentage

110599

Dentistry Not Elsewhere Classified

70

111702

Aged Health Care

15

111700

Public Health And Health Services

15

Administrative

Administrative expertise

As Oral Health Promotion Educator for Hunter New England Health, Linda was responsible for the development, implementation and evaluation of oral health promotion activities in the region.

Linda has previously held the positions of President (NSW Branch) - Dental Hygienist Association of Australia (DHAA) and National Treasurer - DHAA. Linda is currently the DHAA representative on the Australian Dental Council.

Teaching

Teaching keywords

Dental Hygienist

Health Promotion

Oral Health

Periodontal Instrumentation

Teaching expertise

Since joining the university Linda Wallace has completed a Graduate Certificate in Tertiary Training. As a registered dental hygienist with over 25 years clinical experience, Linda provides teaching an all areas of the program but has a keen interest in periodontal instrumentation and health promotion.